Minelab SDC2300 information and questions

[goldstrijk]

Thanks PT
I'll go down that track

 

[loamer]

Wooly

Heaps of diggings is an indicator that gold was somewhere around the area. The majority of diggers holes were duffers - zip, nil, etc. You have to research where the richest areas of the fields actually were. This may involve some library visits to read old reports and check old maps. The Victorian Rewards Committee reports can give some indications at times. A lot of info is NOT on the 'net and tracking down old maps with the notes written for them can be a great detective hunt. It took me 6 years just to track down just one set of map notes.

Swing speed is deadly. Too fast - forget it - too slow - can be just as bad. From the looks of those finds, I would say you are doing OK for speed, those look like some seriously small finds.

 

[trashmagnet]

Wooly

Swing speed is deadly. Too fast - forget it - too slow - can be just as bad. From the looks of those finds, I would say you are doing OK for speed, those look like some seriously small finds.

g'day loamer
with any other machine I would agree with you whole heartily, but the sdc will pick that small stuff up in the top three inches even swinging too fast.
to get any depth, it needs to be swung slower than the gp/gpx machines.
I had a good play on a couple old patches with targets in the ground before disturbing them and was surprised how slow it likes to be swung for the deeper stuff.

the reason I think he should be digging deeper targets is, those no 10 shot are everywhere and at depth. even Talbot where a couple of my patches are.
regards tm

 

[loamer]

Thanks Trash. Talbot - arrggggggggg. I would kill to get on some of the private land there.

 

[trashmagnet]

Thanks Trash. Talbot - arrggggggggg. I would kill to get on some of the private land there.

yeah mate, wouldn't it good.... from what I've seen if anyone gets in there, the farmer would be the one doing the killing

I was working a patch there that ran into some private ground, so I asked the farmer if I could follow it and give him a share and got a very grumpy NO WAY
and afew days later when I got back to it I found small bits of wire had been thrown all around the area of my patch on
the public side of the fence. from what I've been told he did it thru his paddock also. apparently it won't hurt his sheep
but makes it imposable for detectors.
regards tm

 

[wooly]

Today I slowed my swing speed down and once again all that I found all day was lead shot itch nothing deeper than 2 inches.
I even tried an air test over a piece of shot and almost lost signal at 4 inches. There is no way that it would detect a piece of shot anywhere near 8 inches just through the air so I couldn't see it doing it through the ground either.
Could I have a dud? How can I tell if the machine is working as it should?

 

[wooly]

Wooly

Heaps of diggings is an indicator that gold was somewhere around the area. The majority of diggers holes were duffers - zip, nil, etc. You have to research where the richest areas of the fields actually were. This may involve some library visits to read old reports and check old maps. The Victorian Rewards Committee reports can give some indications at times. A lot of info is NOT on the 'net and tracking down old maps with the notes written for them can be a great detective hunt. It took me 6 years just to track down just one set of map notes.

Swing speed is deadly. Too fast - forget it - too slow - can be just as bad. From the looks of those finds, I would say you are doing OK for speed, those look like some seriously small finds.

Thanks for the advice loamer.

Which library should I be frequenting?

 

[kemjak57]

I had a go with one of these on the weekend at The Palmer River in NQ and was really impressed. There is a spot that we went to with my Whites GMT ,an ATX, the Minelab 2300 and a 5000 with 11 inch mono. I was lucky enough to zing the first bit 1.3 grams and then we all started to have turns in that spot to see how each machine went. The 2300 picked out lots if targets and the best was 2.3 grams at about 5/6 inches. Each machine found gold with the ATX having a bit of trouble picking up the really small stuff. The Whites got 4 pieces with the smallest being pin head size at about 2 inches and I scored a piece about .3gram with the 2300 from a different site. I was impressed with the smoothness of the 2300 in pretty ordinary ground. The 2300 got 9 pieces with the smallest about the same as the Whites. ATX and 5000 got 6 pieces between them with a similar result. The 5000 with a Sadie coil on it was deadly picking out 4 pieces that the others missed. In all we got 23 pieces from a bit of ground no more than 1.5 meters square. To top it off I scored an 1852 sixpence with an Ace 250 and a 90 kilo boar with a 30-30. An unbelievable weekend with excellent company. Cheers Rick

 

[trashmagnet]

Today I slowed my swing speed down and once again all that I found all day was lead shot itch nothing deeper than 2 inches.
I even tried an air test over a piece of shot and almost lost signal at 4 inches. There is no way that it would detect a piece of shot anywhere near 8 inches just through the air so I couldn't see it doing it through the ground either.
Could I have a dud? How can I tell if the machine is working as it should?

g'day
that's no good mate, bit hard to help work out whats going on over a computer without seeing whats going on.
it is possible to get targets deeper in the ground than air due to the halo effect, even gold though it's not suppose to get a halo effect due to being a noble metal.
only thing I can suggest is give it abit more time and get used to what the machines telling you.
the sdc will give you a pause effect (negative signal) like the 3500 and older modals on targets that are at max depth for there size due to it being in constant slow tracking (I think that's why), so listen for any pause's in the threshold that are in the one spot.
good luck with it mate
regards tm

 

[dmnz]

hi Gary - how did the sdc perform in the salt water? any ideas of depth on those rings? deeper or more responsive signals than the CTX? Any wave action noise etc???

 

[dmnz]

also - how are you finding the machine on bobby pins / bottle caps etc (any way at all to tell if a quality target) - for instance the 'typical pi' double blip on a bobby pin etc? Have used the ATX extensively and looking at the SDC for water as well

 

[Gary Drayton]

I am digging everything with the SDC 2300, I have not had the unit long enough to start or try discriminating targets with it. Some of this stuff was quite deep but you never know in the water if you are chasing it down the hole.
Cheers Gary

 

[Guest]

I have briefly tested a forum members 2300 with a .15 and a 1 grammer and a lead shot.
So I have a good idea what these air test at.

I am interested in learning more about the depth capability of the SDC2300 and would like
a comparison with an air test.

So if you own a 2300 and you have found some nuggets with it pls do reply and let us know:

1. The weight of your nugget.
2. At what depth was the nugget found.
3. What did the nugget air test at where you can notice it.

I do understand air tests mean very little on a PI but as explained above this post is more for
an educational purpose.

Thank You

 

[Nugget]

Great idea Wolfau, I'm looking forward to reading the results.

 

[Syndyne]

Hi Wolf,

Got to run the test for you this morning out in the exact area found. I held it face on to offer best response then turned it sideways (as it's a flat piece).

Weight: 0.23gm triangular shaped thin flake.
Air test distance: Held face on- 5 inches for good response.
Held sideways- 2 inches for good response.
Target was initially found at exactly 10 inches depth.

Hope that helps out a little.
All the best,
Shauno.

 

[Guest]

Hi Wolf,

Got to run the test for you this morning out in the exact area found. I held it face on to offer best response then turned it sideways (as it's a flat piece).

Weight: 0.23gm triangular shaped thin flake.
Air test distance: Held face on- 5 inches for good response.
Held sideways- 2 inches for good response.
Target was initially found at exactly 10 inches depth.

Hope that helps out a little.
All the best,
Shauno.

Awesome thank you for that.

I am going to go out and test one next week. I know of several areas where the gold found was small and the leads are shallow
with ironstone bits thrown in the mix. I will take the whites GMT with me on its first outing as well.

Both areas gold was found by either myself or a friend. In one area access might be limited due to tracks being wet.
The other area is not an issue at all. If I am able to find a few small nuggets in both areas on my first outing I will buy one
and sell up my other gear because the sdc 2300 is a specialist small gold detector and you need to go to the right areas to
find some nice gold. In saying this there are many areas where small deep gold might be there for the picking.

One other question and sorry to be a pain. What size is that nugget? I ask because your 2300 has impressed me on that target
and might make a similar nugget from lead and do a comparison test on the 2300 I hire out. I think in your case though the weight
of that .23 gram nugget does not matter.

If it is 1mm thick and weighs .23 grams or if it was 5mm thick and weighed 1.2 grams I think the response would of been the same.
I say this because the nugget was laying flat when found hence the thickness of the nugget was hidden underneath the surface
in the ground so the target detection was over the nugget surface. I could be wrong though...
Thanks Again...

 

[Guest]

All welcome to participate.

If you can add some images that would be awesome as well.

Thank You

 

[washgravel]

Surface area of a nugget is a factor however WOW with the SDC that is a 50% increase of in ground depth (10") over its air depth (5") on that 0.23 gram nugget.

Below is a pic of the 0.22 gram nugget that my friend with his 5000 set in fine-gold could only air test at 4" with an 8" mono.

Although from the SDC result I wonder if 8" in the ground is possible with the 5000, maybe with twice the surface area.

 

[Guest]

Surface area of a nugget is a factor however WOW with the SDC that is a 50% increase of in ground depth (10") over its air depth (5") on that 0.23 gram nugget.

Below is a pic of the 0.22 gram nugget that my friend with his 5000 set in fine-gold could only air test at 4" with an 8" mono.

Although from the SDC result I wonder if 8" in the ground is possible with the 5000, maybe with twice the surface area.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/3102/1406789206_0.22_gram_nugget.jpg

Interesting question you raise.

Very interesting and I will explain why. I spoke to a friend of mine last night I consider to be an experienced GPX 5000 user.

I had this discussion with him last night and asked him the exact question but he uses an 11" mono coil. I need to stress though he
pushes the 5000 hard, has a very very low threshold hum and his answer was "yes most likely he could ping a .22 nugget at 8" maybe 7"
with the 11" mono but he is pushing the 5000 to its max, what he means by this I have no idea because I have never used one.

To be fair he was not on the look out for a .22 nugget while detecting where this answer could be clarified more.

He then quickly adds that for the average user with same coil setup and not as much experience with the 5000 maybe at 5" or 6".

I think how the nugget is sitting in the ground though is an important factor as well.

Just to add he finds lots and lots of small gold with the 5000 and 11" coil setup.

Hope this helps.

 

[Syndyne]

Totally my pleasure Wolf.

I should've added that I was running on setting 3 and just using the speaker (just picked up the new headphones this afternoon). There was no wind so it was nice and clear.

The flake was 6.5mm x 4.5mm, around 1mm thick.

Target size and orientation are quite important. Looking forward to someone finding a piece where the weight numbers come before the decimal point! Hopefully I can pick up something over a gram soon.

All the best,
Shauno.